Cartier's stories

[Rosie B]

Go Cartier!!!

That was lovely to see. You should be a very proud momma!!!

(And I have serious facility envy!)

[capstone]

he is adorable!

Thanks!

[capstone]

Looks like a great place to keep your horse at too.

(And I have serious facility envy!)

We are so fortunate to have that arena. If we are strategic, we can fit 2 full size dressage arenas plus a round pen and warm up area, also roughly 20x60. There is always room to ride.

[capstone]

Unfortunately, we had a less than auspicious conclusion to Cartier's show season. I am working up the energy to type the full story.

Onwards and upwards.

[Ryeissa]

uh oh! what happened?

[Mareless]

Oh no! I hope nothing awful happened to your dear boy.

[capstone]

Oh no! I hope nothing awful happened to your dear boy.

No, nothing awful. He is at home having a little R&R before I start back up on him my next home visit.

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[piedmontfields]

What a fabulous photo of your friend Cartier! I do look forward to his stories..whenever you have the energy to share.

[capstone]

Not the best photo we ever took but I was so excited to get to spend time with my boy, I had to commemorate it.

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I had been 60 days out of the saddle; glad that stretch has been broken!

[Chisamba]

It must ve somewhat frustrating to have long stretches of not riding your boy

[capstone]

It must ve somewhat frustrating to have long stretches of not riding your boy

Yes, it is. And he feels so good. This year of FEI work has been so incredibly good for him, mentally and physically.

[Quelah]

Great pic What is his saddle? You don't see that many dressage saddles with square cantles.

[Moutaineer]

It must ve somewhat frustrating to have long stretches of not riding your boy

Yes, it is. And he feels so good. This year of FEI work has been so incredibly good for him, mentally and physically.

Every cloud has a silver lining, I guess!

He does look super--actually, you both do.

[capstone]

Great pic What is his saddle? You don't see that many dressage saddles with square cantles.

Hulsebos from the Netherlands. They have models with square and round cantles.

In the past, I have had deeper seated saddles with high round cantles. This one gives a different feeling but now that I'm used to it, I love it.

[piedmontfields]

Happiness! Great shot.

[Flight]

Nice photo!!!

[Tuddy]

I just love this story and all the pictures! And I hope that he is okay since his show season ended so suddenly.

[capstone]

So...the story.

It started in September, before I went home the last time. He was shod while my trainer was away and she returned to be very unhappy with the job that was done. Actually the groom called her before she came back and warned her of the situation, that's how "bad" it was. He was trimmed very "short" in front and she felt the balance was questionable as well. He had a show coming up, the one where we were trying to get his qualifying scores for the I-1 musical freestyle. We had the farrier check the balance and he insisted it was ok even though we were suspicious. The shoeing story is actually a complicated one that I probably won't go fully into here.

We went to the show. In Houston. In mid-September. He almost immediately started stocking up as he has been known to do in very humid situations. We were handling it and we thought all would still be well. The first night schooling in the competition ring, the footing was terrible. TERRIBLE. Like they hadn't dragged or watered in months. Actually, we were at this same facility in June, and the footing was perfectly groomed. He went ok for my trainer but she had concerns about the footing and adjusted her ride accordingly. We registered our concern with management and decided that if it was no better in the morning, we would scratch. It was somewhat better in the morning, so she rode. He impressed the judge and managed to score over 74% but he struggled in the footing. Particularly in the pirouettes, like we have never seen him do before. There were some other uncharacteristic mistakes and difficulties. Remember, none of the FEI work is "easy" for him but it was harder than usual.

I'll skip to the next morning, with the summary that we did everything that we thought he needed to make him ready for the next day's test. He was the first ride of the day on Sunday - 7:30AM. They hadn't even gotten the drags out by the time my trainer wanted to start her warm-up. After the first work done on Saturday morning, they had not dragged or watered again.

Pause here: many others were continuing to ride and have success in this footing. Our horses are used to MUCH better and it showed.

We withdrew him from the Sunday ride. Not an easy or fun decision but one she and I decided was for the best. But it meant that he only got 1 of the 2 necessary qualifying scores for his freestyle. Not the outcome I was hoping for, particularly considering the money and time spent to get there, but we felt it was in his best interest.

Intermission before continuing to the next chapter...

[capstone]

And he tore himself up on the way home! Completely unrelated and also fortunately completely healed now, but he apparently sawed and sawed his hip against the frame of the trailer window until he rubbed off not only a very large patch of hair but also some skin. It was icing on the cake, let me tell you. I think I have a picture somewhere.

He was to have a few days off before returning to work and then he managed to pull the RF shoe off. If he has a real problem with a shoe, it is always that one. We took this as an indication that there was something off with the way that shoe was set. Taking all of this into account, we decided to make a change to his shoeing. As a result, it took over a week to get the shoe replaced. In the meantime, my trainer did not ride him.

Oh, I forgot to mention that now we are rapidly approaching the regional championships. The thing we have been working towards all year. He didn't manage to get the scores for the I1 FS but he did get PSG and I1 for both the USDF and SWDC regional championships.

In hindsight, this time off - approaching 2 weeks once was all said and done - did nothing good for our chances at championships. We knew, unspoken until after the fact, that he would have to be 100% on his game there in order to fare well. He was not 100%. The time off had dulled the spark that my trainer has been working so hard to install. He was behind the leg again. (Probably not so much that I would notice, but noticeable at the FEI level.) That coupled with an unfortunate last-minute equipment change led to the worst showing he's had, in the SWDC I1 class. *heavy sigh*

I should mention that we are back at the same facility. Again. And the footing is great. No issue at all. But. Of course, there's a but. But he did start stocking up again. And again, it was managed. He had a day off between the SWDC I1 and his next test and was doing better, getting more engaged but still not quite where she wanted him. There was some stiff competition, and as much as we love him, we knew he was the underdog. At one point my trainer commented that it was too bad he had not gotten the qualifier for the FS because that is where he really could have shined (shone?), and it's true. It's difficult for him to beat $250K opponents in a test, but the FS - he really got to show his personality in the FS!

And then he stepped on himself in the stall. Again, the RF. There was blood. On a basically white horse, blood is really shocking! We withdrew him from the remainder of the competition as he was obviously not going to be at his best, all things considered.

And we took him home. He is now basically resting and relaxing while my trainer begins to focus on other horses and until I come home next. We thought it would give him time to decompress from the stressful year and we could reassess where we are at with his shoes, etc. when I go home next. I did walk him a few days, to get him out of the stall and me back in the saddle but it was only walking.

I'm trying not to think too hard about all the $$$$ I spent between the 2 failed shows. In hindsight, I should have written off the championships when we realized he was going to have any time off. He needed the work to keep his "edge". But he - his health and soundness - comes first. And we just could not be convinced that we were not risking those things by continuing on.

ETA: I'm not sure if that is coherent; I may have left out some stuff. Sorry.

[Moutaineer]

Ack... What a shame. I understand your disappointment.

Danged horses already.

(However, you are not alone. "I" blew it at Regional Championships. My horse was happy and healthy and engaged, and there was no real reason except I screwed up--under-did the warm up and over-rode the test. So I claim the "I feel worse than you" prize when I think about all that money AND letting my horse down.)

Next season, we will know our horses and ourselves better.

[Ponichiwa]

I, too, know how it feels to have the disappointing show land right on Regionals. My centerlinescores record now has in my highlights section a dazzling 42nd (or something) at 1st level open one year, because that's the year my pony and I threw 5 flying changes in a 1st level test. Against some scary good competition. Sigh.

Anyway, condolences on your tough run. That's never fun.

[Moutaineer]

(Oh, yeah! We scored a 3 on one movement with a double coefficient, and a 4 on another. Both things we can do with our eyes closed... WTF?)

[capstone]

I actually wasn't present for the failed I1 test but Lisa said he kept getting more and more behind the leg until he just stopped in the middle of the 3s. Full stop. I'm not sure what that scored.

[Moutaineer]

Whoops. Well, this is what we get for consorting with animals with a mind of their own.

[Flight]

How disappointing! Your story does highlight just how difficult it can be to get everything to line up and work for competitions. It is a lot of $, hard work and good fortune for it to all come together.
He's a lovely horse and does well having you as his owner. Well cared for and achieved a lot getting up to PSG/I1. That is very cool
Onwards and upwards next year!

[demi]

Thanks for sharing the story. I agree with Flight that your story highlights just how difficult upper level competition can be. We don't usually get to know the real story, we just see the successful horses in the magazines. I was sorry to hear about the setback, but you and you're trainer handled it so well. Cartier probably senses that he is one well cared for star and I get the feeling that he is the kind of horse that appreciates good humans.

[capstone]

I'm sorry that everyone seems to have their own bad luck tales. Seems to be the way it goes, I guess. If you have horses long enough.

Here is the picture of the lovely body modification he decided to self inflict. Thank goodness it healed well and quickly.

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[Chisamba]

Poor Cartier, that does look nasty. Capstone, try to solve the reason for him leaning so hard in transit before your next trip. I came back from a clinic and both horses has found a rough edge on the back ramp of their newly refurbished trailer and rubbed the back of their tails. partly the rough edge was to blame, because it had not been smoothed after the mate was replaced, however i considered why they would continue to lean on it if it was hurting, and decided that however i think the reason was that the trailer sits a bit higher in front than and we solved that by having the hitch adjusted. i took them in the trailer again this week, and had no problem.

[capstone]

He has traveled round trip, 4+ hours each way, since then without incident.

My trainer has a 5-horse trailer. 3 rear facing and 2 front facing. We knew he had traveled in both positions previously without issue. He has had many trips in this trailer. However, after the fact, we realized he had only been hauled facing backwards on very short trips before this problematic one. So, only front facing on long hauls from now on. Which is how he traveled this last trip to Houston. More likely, only front facing ever from now on.

I'm not sure if that is a "fix" but I do consider it a solution.

[Chisamba]

Great !

[capstone]

I think he needed the extra room. He's a big boy to squeeze in next to 2 others.

[Flight]

Oh ouchy! Glad it healed up well.

[Moutaineer]

Yowza, you must have been horrified. Wounds always seem to look worse on greys, too.

They do find the most creative ways to injure themselves. Glad he is healing up well.

[capstone]

I'm back home and planning to ride tomorrow!

My barn was hosting a schooling show on Saturday and it was busy, so we just grazed and let him stretch his legs a little.

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[jeniferkey]

I know you're disappointed about the show year, but I've loved reading about his progress.

[Chisamba]

Welcome home and to the barn!

[Flight]

Another lovely pic of you both
Have a good ride!

[capstone]

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The rides this week went well, all things considered. Cartier is going so well and I need to catch up to him. Well, at least to my previous level of competence.

Don't be alarmed by the double. Trainer ride first and then it was "don't touch the curb" for me.

[Flight]

If you start getting used to double reins now, it will be easier later on
He's so photogenic!